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YORBA LINDA - Two local congregations will today let the rest of Orange County in on a joint celebration they've been putting on every year for a decade to rejoice in music, understanding and the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Friendship Baptist Church, the largest African-American congregation in Orange County, and its neighbor, Rose Drive Friends Church, will combine choirs, musicians and spirits at a 3:30 p.m. service at Rose Drive.
"At first, I think we sort of liked it that it was just us," said Rose Drive Pastor Jim LeShana, 46. "We weren't trying to put on a show to impress anyone."
"But now I think the time has come to open it up," said the Rev. James Carrington, pastor at Friendship Baptist. Carrington will deliver the afternoon's message.
"Maybe we will stimulate someone else. Maybe we can have a positive influence."
The idea for the joint service came from a couple of members of the Rose Drive congregation who had been challenged to work on integration. They worked with several members from Friendship to make it happen.
"It didn't come from us," Carrington said. "But it's been wonderful. We're going to produce a CD one of these days, together. Show this is what God's people can do together."
When Carrington, 72, founded Friendship Baptist in Fullerton in 1964, he was the only black pastor in that northern corner of Orange County.
"In those days, Orange County was one of the most racist counties around," he said. "We helped establish fair-housing efforts here as well as the Human Relations Commission."
Many forget that before King was a national hero and a civil rights leader, he was a pastor at a community church, carrying on the work of his father and grandfather.
"He didn't come to Montgomery to lead a boycott," the Rev. Mary Jo Smily, 76, recently told Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. Smily was a young newlywed when King arrived at her church. "He came to be a pastor. ... When he preached, you felt like he was speaking directly to you."
King was quickly swept to the forefront of the civil rights movement, leading bus boycotts and demonstrations against discrimination during some of the nation's most turbulent times of civil unrest. In 1964, at 35, he became the youngest person awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
When King was assassinated in 1968, Carrington was called to speak to the crowd of thousands - students and faculty - that had gathered at Cal State Fullerton.
"The Lord led me to the Book of Joshua," Carrington said. "In essence what I said to them was: Now that Dr. King is dead, we all have to ... pick up the banner and start living it. We have to do it now. Wherever we live, we need to pick up the banner and make this thing work - integration - and ... become more of what God would have us be."
That day changed his life, Carrington said. He became more committed to his church and to the work ahead.
"Orange County is more open now. Racism is not as flaunted as it was, and thank God for that. But my people tell me that top problem areas remain - in housing and in promotions on their jobs."
King's legacy of compassion and commitment continues now, LeShana said.
"For me, it's particularly in the way it has touched others who have touched me. One of those ways has been through Friendship Baptist Church," LeShana said.
"Our relationship ... has given me a broader vision for the world and the recognition that although we are not all the same, we are not all that different. That having a compassionate caring for people really is a bottom-line issue for every person - and that just because we appear to be getting along doesn't mean we are.
"There needs to be a breakthrough in love and forgiveness."
King's legacy runs through the joint service between the two congregations, he said.
And from it, friendships have grown.
A team of women from Rose Drive Friends chooses for Friendship Baptist the woman to be honored each year by her congregation.
Men from the two congregations have packed the Rose Drive gymnasium for basketball games.
As neighbors they run into one another at their kids' soccer games and at the grocery store.
"The change that the service has made is that the people realize that we're all God's people," Carrington said.
"I believe that, too," LeShana said. "And today everyone is welcome at the celebration."
Come early, he advised, as the 1,100-seat sanctuary should fill up quickly.
"Celebration is the word," LeShana said. "That's what this service is about."
Martin Luther King Day Events
Today-Monday
The Great American Bake Sale: A nationwide effort to raise awareness of childhood hunger and learn about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Participants are encouraged to prepare baked goods for neighborhood sales. Sponsored by Team Kinds Inc. of Irvine, Parade Magazine and Share Our Strength. All money raised will be donated to Share Our Strength. Information: www.teamkids.org or (949) 654-5437.
Today
Scholarship gospel concert: 4 p.m. at Social Science Lecture Hall, UC Irvine. Co-hosted by Christ Our Redeemer AME Church, Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, One Hundred Black Men of Orange County and Orange County Ministerial Alliance. Choirs from Second Baptist Church, Johnson Chapel, Walker Chapel and Christ Our Redeemer AME Church will perform. King's former fraternity will perform the "Alpha Stepping Presentation." Free. (949) 955-0014.
Observance: 8 and 10 a.m. peace Masses at St. Clement's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 202 Avenida Aragon, San Clemente. Information: (949) 492-3401 or www.stclementsbythesea.org.
Monday
The Great American Bake Sale finale: 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Irvine Civic Center, 1 Civic Center Plaza. Featuring a tribute by Thomas Parham, assistant vice chancellor of counseling and health services at UC Irvine. Music by Vista Verde Children's Chorus. Information: (949) 654-5437.
Day of Service: Donate food at Volunteer Center of Orange County, 1901 E. Fourth St., Suite 100, Santa Ana, and at UC Irvine Cross-Cultural Center. To register for community service projects, call (714) 953-5757 or go to www.volunteercenter.org.
Service and speaker: 10 a.m. at Anaheim Plaza Hotel, 1700 S. Harbor Blvd. Sponsored by Mount Zion Baptist Church. Speech by C.E. McClain, pastor of Little Union Baptist Church of Shreveport, La. Information: (714) 491-2505.
Ceremony: 10 a.m. at Cerritos Civic Center, 18125 Bloomfield Ave. Information: (562) 865-8101.
Tuesday
"Marching for Justice," 2:30-4 p.m., sponsored by UC Irvine's Cross-Cultural Center. Stephanie Chan and Dennis Lopez from UC Irvine and Maria Malagon from UCLA will speak in UCI's Cross-Cultural Center. (949) 824-7215.
Wednesday
Tribute: Noon-1:30 p.m. at McKinney Theatre, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Speech by Thomas Parham, assistant vice chancellor of counseling and health services at UC Irvine. (949) 582-4500.
"E(Race)ing the Prison Industrial Complex": Noon to 1:30 p.m. at UC Irvine Cross-Cultural Center. Speech by Dylan Rodriguez of UC Riverside. Information: (949) 824-7215.
Thursday
March: 11:30 a.m. to noon, beginning at UC Irvine humanities trailers and ending at Cross-Cultural Center. (949) 824-7215.
Speech: 7-9 p.m. at UC Irvine Crystal Cove Auditorium. Speech by author and editor Julianne Malveaux. Free. Tickets available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily starting Tuesday at Cross-Cultural Center. (949) 824-7215.
Jan. 22
Joshua Nelson and the Kosher Gospel Singers: 6:45 p.m. at University Synagogue, 3400 Michelson Drive, Irvine. $18-36. Reservations: (949) 553-3535. Information: www.universitysynagogue.org.
Feb. 8
"Dream Alive": 7:30 p.m. at Concordia University, 1530 Concordia West, Irvine. Former Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers will present a perspective of King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Information: www.dreamalive.org or (949) 854-8002, ext. 1347.